1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handicraft needle puncher for use in the field of e.g. wool handicrafts such as appliqué.
2. Description of the Related Art
Needle punching technique is used typically in the manufacture of nonwoven fabric. In this technique, a plurality of webs of fibers are placed one on top of another and then, a needle is stuck through these webs to tangle fibers of different webs with each other, whereby the webs are combined. Such a needle punching technique is used also in the field of handcrafts. For instance, as a needle punching tool for handicrafts, a needle puncher is proposed which includes a plurality of needles attached to a grip member (see e.g. Patent Document 1 listed below).
In the field of handicrafts, a piece of felt which has a desired shape as a motif is placed on an appropriate sheet of cloth, and then, a needle is stuck through the cloth and the felt a number of times, so that fibers of the felt tangle with the fibers of the cloth, whereby an appliqué of the felt piece is made. According to the needle puncher disclosed in Patent Document 1, a plurality of needles can be stuck at one time through a piece of felt, which allows the work of making an appliqué to be performed efficiently. Needle punchers are also used for wool felt crafting in which a needle is repetitively stuck through a fluffy material of wool to form the fluffy material into a desired three-dimensional shape.
To make an appliqué of a complicated design, the piece of felt to be sewed often has a complicated shape including a plurality of small linear parts. A needle puncher having a plurality of needles is not suitable for sticking a needle through such a small part. Patent Document 2 discloses a needle puncher having a single needle. This needle puncher is configured to stick the needle through a small part. In this needle puncher, however, the needle is held by a grip member at a head-side portion distant from the tip. Further, the portion to be gripped by the user is arranged generally in the middle of the grip member. Thus, to stick the needle precisely through a small part, the position of the tip of the needle, which is distant from the portion where the user grips, needs to be controlled precisely, which is difficult. This makes the handicrafts using a needle puncher less enjoyable. Moreover, in the case of a needle puncher having a single needle, the force applied during the work is concentratedly exerted on the single needle. This may lead to breakage or the like of the needle.                Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-308046        Patent Document 2: JP-U-3151522        